Sonder
by english groovster
Summary: I guess I didn't realise you were fighting a battle too.
1. Talking To Strangers

He might as well have been one of the trees, he just stood. Unmoving and unblinking, waiting for the world to show him an important enough reason to move. Others brushed by him, caught up in the hype. They looked straight at him, but chose not to see them and as he took off his glasses and let the world become a blur, it was clear that he was doing likewise.

He cautiously stretched out one hand, pressing it again the wooden beam behind him, as if to check that it was stable, before he leant against it. His eyes fixated on a dark grey patch on the ground, there was nothing remotely interesting about it, and even if there had been, he wouldn't have known, he'd shoved his glasses down into the depths of his pocket. Everything at this place was so insignificant to him that he didn't feel the need to see it.

"Happy Valentine's Day." A quiet voice had interrupted his trail of thought, he didn't recognise the voice, then again he had only been at the school three weeks and had so far spoken to no one. Teachers didn't really count as people, they were just figures that lapped up politics and robotically enforced the law.

By the time he had glanced up to see where the voice had come from, the space in front of him was empty once more, excluding spots where rain had started to fall. He suddenly noticed a small figure disappearing off around the corner, a crowd soon swallowed her up before he could even decide whether to watch her go.

Obviously the bell had gone, the other students had gone to their lessons like lambs to the slaughter, but he stayed out. It was cold and the rain was started to come down more heavily, but that was how he liked it. The smell of rain. The way it sounded. Rain didn't choose sides or victims, it rained on everyone's head. Rain helped the world stay balanced.

"The bell went." It was the voice again, this time he didn't look up, he knew that if he waited long enough, they would get sick of waiting and walk off. "Didn't you hear it?"

'No, I didn't. And even if I did, better to be soaked out here than trapped inside.' He answered in his head, not giving a verbal reply.

"Happy Valentine's Day. I already said it before, but I don't think you heard me. Sorry." Upon hearing this he let out a tiny sigh and leant even further back on the wooden pole behind him, according to the other person, this was invitation for them to sit with him.

"It's raining." They commented bluntly, their disgust was evident. His lip curled a little, "Excellent observation." He replied dryly, "I was wondering where all the water came from."

"So you can talk!" The reply that came back to him was heavily sarcastic and punctuated with an over dramatic gasp, "I didn't have to come out here you know, I'm missing class right now. And I'm failing as it is."

"Given that your only apparent skill is distinguishing the different types of weather, I can't say I'm surprised." He snorted, properly looking up at the girl who'd intruded his personal bubble.

"I can see why people told me not to bother with you now." The girl snapped, shooting him a glare and childishly sticking out her bottom lip, "No wonder no one else has spoken to you. You looked down, so I thought I'd go out of my way to-"

"Okay." He cut her off, his hand going up to his temple as if her voice gave him a headache, "I get it, I'm the bad guy." There was a long pause, the girl was still bristling and he was perfectly happy just standing there, not having to talk anymore.

Unfortunately, she shattered the silence a few moments later, "Are you just extra cranky because no one gave you a Valentine's card?" She asked suddenly.

"That's utterly ridiculous." His reply came quickly, there had been no pause like before, "As if I would be effected by something so imbecilic."

"You're being effected by your ego, that's pretty imbecilic." She pointed out, smirking slightly, glad to have a response.

"You say ego, I say common sense."

To this she snorted, "Either something really traumatic happened to you or you're just a jerk on purpose."

"Have you not spoken to the other guys at this school? As far as being a jerk on purpose goes, they bought the t shirt."

To his surprise, she giggled at that, "You're funny." She said after biting back her laughs.

"I thought you were friends with those guys." He pulled at his shirt, the rain had caused it to stick to his skin.

She aggressively shook her head and frowned before suddenly slumping and saying in a deep voice, "Oh hey Cat baby, come round for a night you'll never forget. Yeah, look at me being all masculine. Listen to these grunting sounds that I think sound hot but actually make it sound like I'm constipated."

He snickered and she smiled slightly, proud to wipe the solemn look off his face.

"Your name is Cat?" He asked, squinting at her slightly.

She squinted straight back at him, mocking him, "Yeah, it's Cat." She said defensively, "What's wrong with that?" She yelped slightly, as an anxious expression replaced the smile she had previously been wearing.

"Nothing. It's just an unusual name." He shrugged, "Cat." He repeated, "It's cute." He said after a short pause, as if approving her name, "Short for…Catherine?"

"Caterina." She corrected him, twisting a strand of hair around her index finger, "And you're Robbie?"

He squinted at her yet again, wondering how she knew his name, and she sighed loudly, "Just put your god damn glasses on and stop squinting at me like that!" She yelped, plucking his glasses from his pocket and shoving them in his face.

"Chill out." He smirked, sliding his glasses up nose.

"If I was any colder then I would probably get hymomermia and die." She said bitterly, violently gesturing to the rain.

"It's hypothermia." He said, smirking.

"What?" Her eyebrows sloped up into a perplexed expression.

"You said hymomermia, it's hypothermia."

"Well…whatever!" She flew her arms up in the air, "I'm going to get it! And we've nearly missed the whole of first period." She said bitterly. Her gaze suddenly flickered onto the bag that was hooked on her left arm, "Oh ew!" She squealed, "I left my bag open…" She reached in and pulled out a stack of very soggy Valentine's cards.

"That's a lot." Robbie commented, choosing to ignore the fact that Cat was currently sulking about the state of her bag.

She shrugged, looking modest, "The guys here are jerks, they think I'm into that."

He smiled slightly, "I'm guessing you're not."

"Substance over style." She replied quickly, "So far they've all been bags of walking muscles with a space where the brain should be."

Robbie nodded approvingly at her description before taking a card out of her hands, "It's heart shaped." He commented, running his finger along the edge, "It's biologically incorrect."

"It's meant to be romantic, not biologically correct." Cat rolled her eyes at him.

"But you said it yourself, stupidity isn't romantic." Robbie teased whilst opening the card, "Roses are red. Violets are blue. If you were homework, I'd do you." He read aloud, clearly unimpressed, "It's not exactly Shakespeare, is it?"

Cat silently handed him a couple of other cards and watched as his eyebrows raised as he read over them.

"Well…it seems they all follow the same theme." He said bluntly, handing them back to her and sighing deeply.

A shrill noise suddenly went off, causing Cat to scream and cling to Robbie for a second.

"Get off me." He said quietly, standing perfectly still until Cat released her grip.

"Sorry." She mumbled, "The bell scared me…the bell. Robbie you made me miss a whole lesson!" She looked at him disapprovingly.

"You didn't have to come out here. Why did you?" He asked bluntly.

"You looked lonely earlier. You didn't exactly attempt to stop me from being here." She pointed out.

He shrugged, "Whatever."

"We should hang out again." She said boldly, smiling at him.

He gave her a weird look, "Why?"

"It's what friends do." She said it slowly as if he was stupid.

"We aren't friends."

"Sure we aren't Robbie. I'll see you round." She smiled, beginning to head off to next lesson.

"No you won't." He replied, "We aren't friends." He insisted, "You're annoying."

Cat gave possibly the biggest beam she'd ever given.

"Whatever you say, _pal_."

* * *

(A/N)- Well, I'm back guys. With a new story that hasn't really been planned, but I'll see how this turns out. Writing prompt? Ariana4Ever's (sorry I can't remember your new name forgive my sins) Valentine's day Cabbie story where Robbie hands Cat a card in the shape of an actual heart. I know only one part kind of referenced that but the chapter was built around those few lines. I hope I peaked someone's interests, if this is to the liking of at least of you the it'll be continued.

Also, Robbie's going to be a little less sort of awkward, he's a smart, funny guy, I want that to be the main focus. I brought in Cat's personality, but not as OTT as it usually is. This is how things will be in this story.

Assuming this peaked someone's interests, see you guys soon.


	2. Broken Boomerang

"Put it out, Tyler."

Robbie wafted his hand around in front of his face with a look of disgust, "You know what Mom thought about smoking in the house." He said sternly, his eyes glued to the papers lying out in front of him.

Tyler brought his cigarette to his mouth, drew in a heavy breath, and exhaled the smoke into Robbie's face, "Nothing wrong with having a fag every now and then, Rob." He squinted at the papers Robbie had in front of him, "You doing your homework?" He asked, sounding surprised, his lip curled slightly, "You planning to stick around this time then? Not going to do another runner?"

"Fuck off." He snapped, "At least my abilities aren't limited to charring my lungs with carbon monoxide." He reached up and plucked the cigarette out of the other boy's hand, hurling it to the ground and stamping it out.

Tyler smacked the back of his hand into Robbie's shoulder, "You keep doing that and we're going to have a problem." He snarled, fiddling with a small silver lighter.

"_You _keep doing that-" Robbie dismissively flicked his hand towards the discarded cigarette, "And the only problem I'll have is trying to find and big enough coffin for you."

"I know how much you want me to drop dead, but I'm afraid I'm stickin' around. You know what that means?" He didn't even give Robbie a chance to come up with a smart response, "I'll be watching over you...forever!" He cried dramatically, suddenly grinning and giving Robbie a playful shove.

Apparently it was a bit too hard as Robbie fell off his chair, face smacking against the stone floor, "You son of a-"

"Watch it Rob, we've got the same Mom." Tyler said cheerfully.

"Piss off, Ty." He spat, getting to his feet and snatching his work off of the table, "I'm going to my room."

"Wash your mouth out with soap." Tyler replied cheerfully.

The curly haired boy glared at him, "Wash your lungs out with soap." He flung open the door.

"Rob, wait. I'm sorry, yeah?"

Robbie shrugged, "Yeah, yeah. I'll be in my room the rest of the night."

"I'm out later tonight." Tyler announced.

"...again?" He struggled to hide his surprise, his brother had been going out a lot recently. And he knew Robbie didn't like to be alone since...events.

"You aren't a baby, Rob. You can't expect me not to have a life and to stay home watching my kid brother, I'll be back at midnight."

"So you'll be back at three then." Robbie replied in a resentful tone, raising his eyebrows.

"Hey I don't control the traffic." Tyler defended, "It's not like you need me for anything, is it?"

"...no. Just go, Ty."

* * *

_"Mommy...you've been in the bathroom a while. I need to peeeeee!"_

_He whined, scratching at the door, his legs crossed._

_"Mommy, please answer me."_

_"...are you okay?"_

_Small hands pummelled against the door._

_"Should I get Tyler?"_

_He crumpled against the bathroom door._

_"Are you mad at me?"_

_"I'm sorry if I was bad. I'm going to get Tyler, okay? Okay, Mom?"_

_He scrambled to his feet, hurtling down the stairs._

_"Tyler, where are you?"_

_He peeked around the door, "Tyler, Mommy isn't answering, I think she fell asleep. Help me wake her up."_

_Mud was tracked up the carpet as Tyler ran up the stairs._

_"Tyler! You can't go upstairs with your shoes on!"_

_The little boy yelped in horror, "Mom said-"_

_He was cut off by the older boy._

_"Mom? Mom, open the fucking door. I can't take this shit again, okay?"_

_"Tyler, don't swear!"_

_"Go round next door and get help." The older boy demanded, pressing his ear to the bathroom door._

_"I'm not meant to go out on my own, Mom said-"_

_"JUST DO IT!" He screamed at his younger brother, turning his back on him and attempting to ram his shoulder into the door._

_A pair of bare feet scampered down the stairs, across the floor and over the front door. They stopped only when the boy attempted to reach the door, his hand scrabbled for the door knob, he nearly cried out for his Mom to help him._

_But he didn't._

_He didn't._

_He didn't._

_She wouldn't help herself._

_Wouldn't._

_Couldn't._

_He got the door open and he ran._

_And then he wasn't really sure what happened._

_There was screaming and crying. He thought that came from him but he was really sure._

_All he really remembered was seeing her and wondering why there was barely any blood._

_And why her eyes were still open._

_He thought people's eyes closed when they died._

_Did that mean she could see him still?_

_He hoped she wasn't mad about the mud on the carpet._

_Tyler spoke about her taking pills and that she took too many._

_He didn't understand because Tyler said it like it was a bad thing._

_But she must have been feeling bad...because you take medicine to feel better, right?_

_But she was gone. Other kids at school asked questions._

_Tyler asked questions too. Asked him why he didn't do something sooner._

_"If you'd ran faster, she would've been okay. She would've been fine if you'd cared."_

_It got to him. He did care. But not enough, because otherwise she would've been okay._

_They were going to live with their Godparents._

_But he couldn't, he couldn't face them. Not after what he'd done._

_"If you'd ran faster."_

_Run._

_He did run. He ran until the trees merged into the ground, until light merged into shadows._

_He kept running._

_He'd come back. Like a boomerang._

_He wasn't a sporty guy, but he did run._

_In fact, he never really stopped._

* * *

(A/N)- Hey guys, as if you couldn't already tell, this isn't exactly going to be a jolly story. It'll probably be a maximum of ten chapters long, and I plan to update about once a week, an idea for this is just shaping in my head, so you may get another update this week. But it's most probably that this'll be a once a week thing, so expect a new chapter on Saturday/Sunday. I had school work to do, so I couldn't finish this over the weekend, anyway, thanks for the reviews on the first chapter.

Catch you guys later.


	3. I'm Leaving, Sorry

Sorry, but I'm not continuing this story, this was going to be my last anyway but I'm so sick of Cat and Robbie and I'm aware that this is a really irritating thing for someone to say but I've outgrown it. It was nice to right about the OTP of my eleven year old self, but Victorious is done and so am I.

I'm done with writing stories on here, it was a nice year and a half we had together but it's goodbye forever from me. At least for Victorious, I may be writing Divergent stuff in the future but that'll either be on another account or all my Victorious stories will be deleted. I don't know yet.

Thanks to the couple of others who were friends with me, don't feel obligated to continue talking to me, I don't really have a close friendship with anyone on this site anymore. But we had a good run, I have facebook or whatever if you feel you want to continue being friends, if not then, thanks for everything.

Goodbye.


End file.
